'Huge' Venomous Snake Tries to Bite Snake Catcher's Face in Video
A professional snake catcher has shared the moment a venomous red-bellied black snake came within inches of biting him in the face.
Stuart McKenzie, owner of the Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7 company in Queensland, Australia, took to Facebook on Tuesday to post a video of a catch from several years ago that saw a snake get too close for comfort.
The catch involved a snake that was hiding inside a rat trap at a property, and McKenzie was called to relocate it.
Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.
The same snake group also shared a video earlier in June showing how staff recovered a python that was found basking round the back of a café.
In a caption to Tuesday's video, the snake catcher wrote: "On this particular day several years ago, this huge red belly was hiding in a black rat trap that was in the sun on a 30 degree day, so you could say that this big snake was warm and ready to rumble."
The video shows how McKenzie pops open the outdoor rat trap to reveal the snake inside. McKenzie then picks it up by the tail before it can slither away.
McKenzie then slowly gets a hold of a bag used to contain the snake. Moments afterwards, the snake suddenly appears to strike towards the snake catcher's face, prompting McKenzie to quickly dodge. The snake catcher then drops the animal into the bag.
In the video description McKenzie wrote: "As I grabbed him I was getting ready to bag him up, and out of nowhere he shot up towards my face, coming within about 6 inches of my nose! Very, very close!
"It's pretty rare to have a close call with a red belly as they are generally quite a placid and calm snake."
The post also contains another clip of a similarly tense catch, in which McKenzie releases a snake that got caught in a metal turkey trap.
The animal strikes at McKenzie after he removes it from the trap, before the snake catcher picks it up by the tail and places it into a bag.
One Facebook user commented on the video: "Wow that was a close encounter, sooo lucky."
Another wrote: "Couldn't pay me enough to do your job."
Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers offers snake relocation services.
The red-bellied black snake, also sometimes called a red-belly, is one of the most frequently encountered snakes on the east coast of Australia, according to the Australian Museum. Adults can reach an average size of up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) in size.
The museum describes them as "a shy snake" that "will generally only deliver a serious bite under severe molestation". They are responsible for a number of bites every year.
